


with a city weighin' me down

by whatshisface



Category: POKEMON Detective Pikachu (2019)
Genre: M/M, Pining, before canon, if I knew how police departments I would not be here, same goes for promotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-12 10:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19944796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatshisface/pseuds/whatshisface
Summary: "I don't usually do this kind of thing,Does it change the way you think of me?"Thinking isn't his forte,And he said: "If you dance with me, darling,If you take me home,Will we talk in the morning?"------------------------------Just two bright-eyed kids moving on from the Academy. Snippets and ideas of how Hide Yoshida and Harry Goodman may have become friends.





	with a city weighin' me down

“Yoshida, you're with Goodman. Desk work until further notice." 

While Ryme City has a unit, the decision to partner up the newbies was made based on the influx of them. There are too many new people and not enough seniors for one-on-one training. Hide Yoshida is one of the former, new, clear-eyed and ready to tackle the job. He's in after graduating from the academy, which came with several months of doing nothing but paperwork and coffee runs (he'll never order a blended drink after that). He lifts his eyes from his folder and glances across the room for a sign of recognition, stopping at the brown-haired man who lifts a hand in acknowledgment before settling it back down around his coffee. Yoshida nods back in turn, although he has to think after he realizes that the face is familiar. 

Harry Goodman, a transfer from outside the city, having arrived around about the same time as him. He seems familiar enough- maybe they went to the same training sessions? If they were in the same class, Yoshida tries not to feel embarrassed about how he can't remember either way. At the least, it'll be a good opportunity to learn how Ryme City works, and how they can make it a better place for both people and Pokémon. 

When the assignments are given out and they're dismissed, Yoshida gathers his things. His next move is anticipated it seems because suddenly, there's a coffee cup on the table and then a hand enters his vision. He doesn't shake the hand. Instead, his eyes follow the arm up to the face, and the other man's face lights up as if it's the best thing that's happened to him all day. 

“I remember you, hey!" Harry leans in, head ducking down as he flashes a quick smile, sheepish. The man is tall, hiding a graphic tee beneath his leather jacket. He looks casual, but there's a certain air about him. Before Yoshida can think about anything else, the brunette is whispering to the side. It's said low, shoulders shrugged up in a sign of less embarrassment and more on the side of someone who's been caught in the act. "- sorry about the Jello." 

The pause Yoshida gives him says more than anything else, and then he winces once clarity hits. _That's_ why Harry looked familiar. (The academy had its fair share of nonsense- if anything, it’s taught him not to like lime Jello.) He manages to find composure and shake his head while closing his binder, before making another attempt at the handshake – he’ll be first this time.

"Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Harry shakes his hand.

\--

Hideo realizes the paperwork part of things is his strong suit. Unfortunately, he learns that from doing nothing but desk work for a month. Five days a week, some weekends, and a rough number of hours, well into nights. Some of the papers are forms needed for clearance, some of them are closing statements to cases already cleared, and some of them? Well. _Most_ of them belong to other officers around, who have seemed to mistake Yoshida's desk for their own (although he’s sure they know better). Regardless, he does what he can and sends it off, lest he watch it build. Yoshida's done his best to keep it in check, but Harry-

"C'mon, hustle!" 

He jerks forward at the hand on his back as Harry walks by his desk, dropping off a coffee. Staring in confusion, his brow furrows while watching the other man roundabout for his jacket, shrugging it on. He stares as if the other man has grown a second head. Harry paces, gesturing wide before turning on his heels to catch the loo he’s being given. "We got a big case! It’s great, a break in and- What's that look for?"

Yoshida's brow furrows and he gestures to the stack of papers. Harry looks at them, then waves a hand in their direction. "Ahh, they'll be here when we get back. C'mon, we got a _real_ assignment!" 

He glances around the station; notices the glances some people are giving. Nose scrunching up, he reaches for the coffee. Harry steals it away and holds it at a distance, dealing a pointed look to the other. In turn, Yoshida raises a brow and the silence between them swells before undoubtedly, Harry is the first to break. He throws his arms up and groans, the noise starting from the bottom of his chest and ending with a raspberry. Again, Yoshida gestures to the pile of papers on Harry's desk. The frustration only seems to grow when an officer walks by and drops off another stack. Neither one of them says anything as they watch the officer walk off, heading to the next job. 

A stark difference between the two of them at a standstill, Yoshida refusing to move while Harry debates trying to pick the other man up and carry him off.

Instead, Harry somehow keeps his cool. He runs a hand through his hair and sighs, gesturing to the desk before motioning in the direction of the door again. 

“Look, I’ll cover the desk when we get back, scout’s honor!” He holds a hand over his heart while the other raises and Yoshida tilts his head in thought, debating the offer. A beat, and then:

“Were you even a scout?” 

Harry bats his lashes and offers an ingenuine smile. It turns into a grin when Yoshida sighs and takes off his glasses. His holler of victory echoes through the hall as they head to the car.

\--

The chase is a mess.

Barely on the scene when their suspect gets startled and runs out the building as they start to head in. Yoshida gets turned around and knocks into Harry, who braces him then bursts after the culprit. There are limbs flying everywhere. Harry's jacket gets caught on a fence as he tries to jump it, and Yoshida nearly causes a Teddiursa to evolve out of sheer stress when he loses both Harry and the suspect. 

A yell down the next street gets him to follow as he hears trash cans being knocked over. The Teddiursa cries out in worry as he tucks the bear into his arms, rounding the corner to see the suspect rushing down the street. He nearly catches up but he can’t clear the gap while being mindful of the Pokémon he’s got in his arms. Harry seems to come out of nowhere as he pulls up beside Yoshida, the culprit getting to the end of the alley. If they lose him in the main square, they won’t catch him. Maybe Harry knows that, or maybe he’s working on instinct.

All Yoshida feels is panic when Harry yanks the Teddiursa out of his arms, and rears back. 

“Here goes nothing!” The academy doesn’t train you on how to react when your partner throws a small Pokémon at a suspect during a chase. The little cub makes impact and the suspect takes a tumble. Yoshida and Harry catch up as the Teddiursa wails, sitting on top of the suspect who’s barely making sense of things. There’s a grin from his partner as they step forward. 

“Right, you’re under arr- oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” The glow that consumes the small bear and the aftermath is too much for a first case. Harry screams. A lot. 

\-- 

They fill out paperwork for months. Does he hold it against Harry Goodman? Maybe he does it by giving him the majority of the work, but he can’t do much with a broken arm anyway.

\--

Eventually they find a way that works. Working on an actual case seems to sate Harry, and working in the office is good for Yoshida. There’s a balance in there, and time to learn habits.

Harry tends to find himself at the bottom of a coffee pot halfway through a report. Then he uses it as an excuse to head to the coffee shop down the street from his apartment. It's something that Yoshida can't help but notice about his partner, but it doesn't seem to faze him. The first few times he goes, Harry offers to treat him and Yoshida declines. He has things he needs to finish around the station, such as finishing the last report that he was left with, no thanks to a certain someone. Regardless, the offer comes like clockwork, like a habit that doesn't seem to be so ugly.  
Maybe it's bribery, but it's still kind.

Yoshida breaks by the fourth attempt, although it's more from exasperation and less from the way Harry tries to guilt him by making his eyes glassy and jutting out his bottom lip. How the man seems to do that on command is beyond him, but it has him getting up and reaching for his coat. It's sometime after a smuggling ring case. Yoshida fumbles for a sleeve through his cast, then tries not to draw attention to the way he stops when Harry rounds the desk to help him, touch gently and the motion smooth, practice. He's done this before. (There was a ring on Harry's hand at some point, wasn't there?)

Harry Goodman goes through two coffee pots before Yoshida finishes his own, and then another for good measure. They talk about things that aren’t work related. Hobbies, adjusting to life here, embarrassing things from the academy that neither of them seemed to realize what was going on.  
Best of the best and then to here in a coffee shop in the middle of the night. Neither of them seem to want it any other way.

Yoshida picks up the tab when Harry isn’t looking, and their goodbyes are quiet, drawn out like they don't want it to end.

\-- 

Another thing that Hide learns while working with Harry, is that he may find him attractive. That's a problem for a different day. 

\--

There are moments when the familiarity turns into vulnerability.

One night during a break, they get coffee at Hi-Hat. It could be the exhaustion, but the small talk gets deeper. They start to cover the more personal things, and eventually, they get away from the weather, plans for the weekend, and they wind up here. The word 'family' holds a different weight than 'relative'. Hide for example, says he has a few relatives in Ryme City. He knows their names, their relationship to him, and that's about it. There may be an accidental meeting every now and then, but there aren't many plans to meet despite the proximity. Harry seems to be on the other side of the fence. 

"Yeah, I got family outside here. Few hours by train." That's him standing at the threshold, waiting to be welcomed in. And because Hide knows how to discern facial expressions, knows when to push and when to leave things be, he opens the door. What he doesn't expect is the heaviness that comes with the way that Harry uses the word family, but how it feels more like relative. 

You know your family. What it feels like, as Harry talks about his son, is that he wants *wants* to know him but he can't, for a reason that Hide doesn't feel comfortable prying at. 

So, instead he reaches across the table, settles a hand over the back of Harry's and nods. Harry cracks a smile that strains at his face before getting out a 'thank you' that's just as held together. They finish their coffee and get back to the shift.  
\--

One day, there is a big ugly box on his desk. It’s wrapped in an obnoxious neon yellow, the red ribbon just as blinding as he stares, taking off his jacket and draping it over the back of his chair. While he has a good idea as to who he should blame for it, he can't bring himself to be annoyed at the idea due to other things. The other thing genuinely being the fact that he didn’t expect a gift. One being that it isn’t his birthday, and two being that well. 

It's obnoxious. 

Still, he’s touched by the gesture and leaves it on the corner of his desk, waiting for Harry to come in like clockwork, a coffee in each hand and raring to go for another case. 

“You didn’t open it yet?” The shake of his head has Harry round about the desk, taking the gift and placing it in his arms. “You know how to open a gift, right?”

Yoshida takes the bait and frowns at him, moving to tug at the ribbon and tear at the paper. Inside the box is – a graphic tee with a logo that looks like one of the Berry Juice products. It’s simple, but fashionable enough. Holding it up to his chest he looks down before raising a brow in Harry’s direction. 

“Perfect.” He clicks his tongue and gives a thumbs up, satisfied. Grabbing his coffee and leaving the second one for Yoshida (tea, this time), he sits at his desk. “Thought you could use it. You don’t always have to dress like a hard-boiled detective, you know.”  
Glancing back up as he settles, Harry winks. “Let me take that role for a little.” 

Yoshida shakes his head and goes back to his assignment after he throws a paper ball at the other man. 

“… Thank you.” He wears the shirt on the days that he’s off.  


\--  


The situation is unique and because of it, he decides he needs help. Harry comes over quickly despite sounding like it's the phone call that woke him up at 2 in the afternoon. Yoshida is grateful when the other man arrives, although neither of them have much experience with tending for an egg, they do a few rounds up and down the block, but they’re both surprised to know the walking works when the egg hatches.

A few hours later, they’re at a PokéMart picking up food and toiletries for the baby Snubbull in the swaddle that Harry fashioned. He’s got experience with it; he admits sheepishly as he drapes the cloth around Hide’s shoulders. 

Yoshida keeps it. He’s always been a dog person.  
\--

Yoshida’s ears are ringing as everyone around him bursts out into joy but for some reason, he can’t register what’s been announced. It’s about promotions, about the chief leaving for another department, people being shifted around and the position of lieutenant being opened up-  
Harry throws an arm around Yoshida and shakes him. 

“Congrats you son of a- I knew you could do it, easy!” His grin is all teeth and things seem to kick in as he catches up. Right. He’s to be the lieutenant of their decision. They announce Harry’s promotion as well – police detective.  


“Hide leans into the other man as they share the excitement. From the beginning to here, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He'll watch Harry's back, and Harry will watch his. It's a habit by now.  


\--

Old habits work until they don't. Years down the line, Harry takes a job that he won’t say much on. Hide eventually gets a report from officers who come upon a car wreck. 

There’s a lot he should have said.

**Author's Note:**

> HE'S HIDEO TO ME, DAMMIT.


End file.
